Rylan Jacob Hirsch
Fleet Captain Rylan Jacob Hirsch (or short RJ), is the down-to-earth Commanding Officer of the SS Nigala. His friendly manners and appreciation for his crew's hard work have earned him their great respect. Personal History Rylan was born at the Manhattan Medical Facility on Stardate 196408.03 to Jacob and Lauren Hirsch. Rylan's unusual name came from the desire of his father to name their eldest son Ryan, and from his mother's desire to name him Landen. They ended up agreeing to combine the names into Rylan. The Hirschs resided in Port Washington, New York . Rylan's father Jacob worked for a private freight company as a welder, and finally as Structural Inspector. Rylan's mother worked at Starfleet Command at the Staten Island office as an Operations Manager in one of the Supply Depot's. Together Jacob and Lauren taught their children the benefits of hard work, and taking pride in things that are done well, and learning from mistakes. It was often that the children would be seen with either parent at their job location, listening to their parents as they went about their daily business. Rylan's educational background is nothing extraordinary. Although he did well in his subjects, he excelled in Math, and Music. Early on Rylan was determined that he would be among the musical geniuses of the time. However, as time progressed, Rylan became interested in other fields, particularly those that allowed him to be outside regardless if it was sunny or in three feet of snow. Although he continued his studies of math and music, Rylan also played sports, such as soccer, that would allow him to use his math skills for tactical advantages against the opposing team. Thus the birth of a Tactical Officer began. Starfleet History Rylan took the Academy Entrance Exam twice, before passing, while still a senior in primary education (AKA High School). Once his primary education was completed, he took a small vacation with his family and then reported to the Academy. Starfleet Academy In the Academy, like most cadets, he was quickly entrenched in the various subjects that all cadets must take to meet the qualifications of their lower division courses. As a Junior, Rylan started to excel even more, as he began to concentrate on Tactical Analysis, and War-game Strategy. He also adopted the game of Three Dimensional Chess into his life, as it allowed him to exercise his tactical prowess. Many of bets had been done on the outcome of his chess games by Rylan's dorm mates; many were profitable to them and earned Rylan the nickname of Tac. Rylan continued his education opting to stay at the Academy while he went through Officers training. It was here that Rylan lost the first person under his command while doing tactical maneuvers around Luna. Due to an oversight an EPS conduit exploded, killing its pilot occupant. Rylan was devastated, but it taught him an important lesson in starship maintenance and the need to make the most of life because it can be very short indeed. USS Hera After graduating from Starfleet Academy , Rylan was assigned to the USS Hera. Being assigned to one of the newest starship design, a Nebula-class ship, caused great pride in Rylan. He continued up the ranks and participated in a variety of away missions that brought him to strange and new planets. However it wasn't before long that Rylan met Cassandra Neilson. Cassandra was a member of the Hera crew posted to the engineering department. It was often that the two of them could be seen together having dinner on beta shift discussing some of the newest tactical and engineering methodologies. Soon respect sparked into romance and the two became a couple. Then the war began. Both Rylan and Cassandra had lost many friends at the start of the Dominion war. The strain of constantly being on alert caused the couple to drift, but not before Cassandra was notified that she would be having a son. Rylan and Cassandra spoke, neither of them were ready for marriage, but they realized that a starship in a time of war was not the place to raise a child as well. Cassandra opted to take a temporary leave of absence and returned to Utopia Planitia where her parents resided. Nine months later Rylan was notified that his son had been born. Time continued on and the Hera was destroyed in the line of duty at the Battle of Bajor. USS Explorer After the victory over the Dominion at the Battle of Bajor, Rylan was promoted to the rank of Commander and assigned to the USS Explorer as her first officer. Her mission was to explore the Gamma Quadrant and keep a watchful eye over the Dominion and their activities. It was also at this time that Rylan's son RJ came to live with him aboard the starship. The Explorer was much like the Galaxy-Class starships of only a few decades ago, as it was large enough to contain Starfleet personnel and their families. Large in size her decks were easily configurable to any situations that may occur. On more than one occasion, the ship was utilized for diplomatic relations between the Dominion and the Federation. Within a few years, their mission had turned from one of monitoring the defeated Dominion in that of exploration of the Gamma Quadrant. The Explorer and her crew did three years of deep space exploration in the Gamma Quadrant before finally returning to the Sol system. It was at this time that Rylan was given command of the USS Hamilton. USS Hamilton New to the fleet was the Legacy-Class USS Legacy and her sister ship the USS Hamilton. Rylan was given command of the Hamilton and began shake down procedures one week after taking command. After a year of trials the Hamilton was deemed ready for active service and was assigned to monitor the frontier of Federation space. By then, it was deemed by Starfleet that the Hamilton would return to port so that it could take on a new role. That role was to become the flag ship for the Corps of Engineers. Rylan's crew that chose to be reassigned were filled with those individuals that were considered the top of the field in the Corps. With is first officer Andrew Gillespie, the Hamiton had embarked on many voyages of discovery. The Corps never kept Rylan busy, and he enjoyed the interaction between his officers that lead to many successful missions. Rylan stayed on the Hamilton for five years before being reassigned to Space Station Nigala on Stardate 520708.15 Hirsch, Rylan Hirsch, Rylan